David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, PC (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the member of parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough from 1987 to 2015, when he stood down.[3] Blind since birth, and coming from a poor family in one of Sheffield's most deprived districts, he rose to become education and employment secretary, home secretary and work and pensions secretary in Tony Blair's Cabinet following Labour's victory in the 1997 general election.
Following the 2001 general election, he was promoted to home secretary, a position he held until 2004, when he resigned following publicity about his personal life.[4] Following the 2005 general election he was appointed secretary of state for work and pensions, though he resigned from that role later that year following media coverage relating to external business interests in the period when he did not hold a cabinet post.[5] The Cabinet secretary Gus O'Donnell, in a letter of 25 November 2005, exonerated him from any wrongdoing.[6]
On 20 June 2014, Blunkett announced to his constituency party that he would be standing down from the House of Commons at the next general election in May 2015. The editor of the conservative The Spectator magazine, Fraser Nelson, commented: "He was never under-briefed, and never showed any sign of his disability ... he was one of Labour's very best MPs – and one of the very few people in parliament whose life I would describe as inspirational."[7] Responding to a question from Blunkett on 11 March 2015, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "As a new backbencher, I will never forget coming to this place in 2001 and, in the light of the appalling terrorist attacks that had taken place across the world, seeing the strong leadership he gave on the importance of keeping our country safe. He is a remarkable politician, a remarkable man."[8]
In May 2015, he accepted a professorship in politics in practice at the University of Sheffield (in 2014 he was invited to be a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences), and in June 2015 he agreed to become chairman of the board of the University of Law.[9][10] In addition to his other work with charities, he was also chairman of the David Ross Multi Academy Charitable Trust from June 2015 to January 2017.[11] He is the honorary president of the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT).
In August 2015, he was awarded a peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. He was created Baron Blunkett, of Brightside and Hillsborough in the City of Sheffield, on 28 September.[12]
- ^ Education and Skills
- ^ Education (1994–1995)
- ^ "David Blunkett to step down as an MP". LabourList. 21 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ "Timeline: Blunkett resignation". BBC News. 21 December 2004. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "Blunkett quits after 'mistakes'". BBC News. 2 November 2005. Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
The Blunkett Tapes p.856was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Nelson, Fraser (21 June 2014). "The wit and wisdom of David Blunkett". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Mar 2015 (pt 0001)". publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ "David Blunkett – Crick Centre". Crick Centre. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ "1 June 2015: University of Law acquired by leading Education and Training Group | The University of Law". www.law.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ "David Blunkett appointed as Chairman of Trust". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ "no. 61369. p. 18373". The London Gazette. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.